Tears flowed freely as Japan’s Yui Kamiji clinched gold in the wheelchair tennis women's singles on an emotional afternoon at Roland Garros.
Tears from the winner Kamiji, who recovered from losing a thrilling, see-saw first set to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a captivating clash.
Tears too from her support - from family, to the Japanese team courtside, and supporters in the stand.
And tears from the defeated Diede de Groot, the pre-match favourite who had gone 145 matches unbeaten up until May this year, but whose tendency for double faults damaged her chances.
Kamiji, 30, made her Games debut at London 2012 as a teenager, reaching the quarterfinals there before beatingde Groot in the bronze medal match at Rio 2016, and then losing to herin the final in Tokyo three years ago.
This though, was her day. After a strong start it looked as though she could succumb to an impressive de Groot response, only to find a crucial extra level in the deciding set.
"I still can’t think,” she gasped in the immediate aftermath of a memorable match.
“I just can’t describe how big this is. Of course, I’m happy. I want to thank my team, my family and friends - but also Diede, for fighting for me, for showing people how good wheelchair tennis is and how good women’s singles is."
Kamiji had further kind words for de Groot, who was visibly upset both at the match’s conclusion and the ensuing medal ceremony. Kamiji and Manami Tanaka had beaten de Groot and Aniek van Koot in the doubles final just 24 hours earlier, leaving the player widely seen as the best in the world without a gold medal in Paris. Yet de Groot still made it a priority to embrace Kamiji at the end.
"It’s really appreciated,” Kamiji said. “I couldn’t move. It was tough to recognise at that moment what I had done. I didn’t really know if it’s really done or not. I just couldn’t believe it.
"I really appreciate Diede and her team, her family. We’ve fought so many times against each other. We always push each other. I’ve been on some big stages with her, and there will be more in the future."
Kamiji established an early 4-1 advantage, only to see de Groot – who won her first 10 break points – take the first set and then seemingly wrestle control of the second. But the Dutch icon’s issue with double faults continued, and with Kamiji seemingly growing in strength and confidence, it was her 17th that ended the game and began the outpouring of emotion.
“At the end I was really happy with my performance and I want to say ‘good job’ to myself,” Kamiji added. “I had a 4-1 lead in the first set but she made a good comeback. I had good energy from my team, my family and friends, and at the end I could push myself and I made it.
“I’ve really enjoyed Paris, the whole two weeks here, and it’s good to end with two gold medals.”
A magnanimous de Groot added, “I’m just really sad that I couldn’t get the gold medal. Yesterday already was such a tough fight (in the doubles). We fought for three hours. The expectations are high.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t live up to it. That’s very sad, but I’m very proud of the battle that I put up today.
“But Yui played amazing. She didn’t give me anything. She put all the balls back into the court and I just couldn’t get through it.”
Men's doubles gold for Great Britain
In the men’s doubles gold medal match that followed on Centre Court, Great Britain pair Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid went one better than their silvers in Rio and Toyko by beating Japan’s Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki 6-2, 6-1.
Hewett and Reid controlled the contest from the start, and although the Japanese pair briefly closed the first set gap to 3-2, the British took the final three games in impressive style.
Their dominance continued in the second set, although their opponents played their full part in a host of dazzling rallies that thrilled the large and noisy crowd.
“This has been a dream of ours for so many years, and we've faced two heartbreaking moments in the previous two Games,” Hewett said.
“To get over the line in the fashion that we did today is an absolute testament to the team that we have around us, all the hard work that we've done and put in.”
Reid added, “We put a lot of time and effort into our partnership, the tennis, but also the away from the tennis as well.
“The relationship we have and how we can pick each other up when we're struggling, or how we can keep each other pumped when we're doing well, I think something that we've learned over the years and improved on.
“It’s just the fact that after every match, every tournament, whether we win, whether we lose, we're always leaving no stone unturned to try and improve as a team and to make that next step forward. That's done the job today.”
Hewett and Oda meet again in the final of the men's singles on Saturday.
